September 1, 2013

Pin It
Even though I've already had my two cheat meals this week - and they were big meals, too - I left home today for a third, semi-cheat meal. I'm pretty determined to keep to my program, and the only reason for me to stray and take on more calories than I wanted was for a good cause. Feeding Hong Kong was holding their first Secret Supper Club event, and it was held at Brickhouse. The proceeds go to Feeding Hong Kong, and there would be a raffle drawing so that they could raise a little more money for the charity.

I would have supported Feeding Hong Kong no matter where they were doing this venue, but the fact they were doing it at a place I hadn't been to was certainly a plus. So I reserved two seats, called up my Favorite Birdbrain Cousin and told her she was coming with me, and that was that.

The restaurant is hidden in the same alley way through which one accesses Fa Zu Jie, and I had a little trouble finding it at first. Thankfully I ran into Mrs. Tigger who pointed me to the alley. Within moments we found our seats and settled in.

Being a Secret Supper Club event meant that one does not find out about the menu until arrival, and it certainly looked like a lot of food to me…

Guacamole and salsas: fresh daily-made guacamole and salsas, organic stone ground chips - no surprise that this was the first item to arrive at our tables. The chips were pretty tasty, and fairly bland until you hit one of the grains of salt. The guacamole was not bad, but I thought the salsa was a real winner.

Peruvian ceviche: yellowtail, apple, dicon radish, orange, avocado, yuzu-lime dressing - this was pretty good… the orange wedges and the yuzu-lime dressing provided the acidity. Nice to have it with the chips.

Home beet fries: deep fried roasted beets, sweet chilli mayo, green onion - I needed to fulfill my veggie quota for the meal, so I took a few pieces but removed the thin layer of batter on the outside. I liked it more than I thought I would. Didn't touch the mayo, of course...

Mexican-style street corn: sweet corn, chilli, mayo, lime, queso - corn on the cob! Nice touch with the queso, and a tiny little bit of kick. Between the tortilla chips and this, I'm definitely getting a bit of the grain ration for this meal.

Madera pollo: citrus-brined chicken, pico de coliflor, salsa verde, grilled spring onion - meh. The chicken was definitely overcooked and dry. I sliced up chunks and put them on the tortillas. I definitely didn't need the baked beans…

Finally, we were told that each of us could choose 3 tacos, even though I was reasonably full. So Birdbrain and I shared 3 of them between us.

Fish taco - not a fan. The little piece of fish was dipped in what looked like tempura batter and deep-fried. I didn't understand why there were pieces of potato. The fish taco at Ted's Lookout was waaaaay better.

Vegetarian taco - chunks of cauliflower, feta cheese and salsa verde. This was alright, but by now I was a little too full so I just picked at the filling without eating the tortilla.

There was free-flowing alcohol, and Birdbrain was ordering one margarita after another. Me? I drank tap water the whole time… The things you do when you're on a diet…

When time came to draw the prizes for the raffle, Gabrielle asked my 3-year old godson Bear to do the drawing. Bear became the youngest donor to Feeding Hong Kong last year when, at the ripe old age of two, he donated the money he received from all of us for his second birthday.

Mrs. Tigger was joking that having Bear do the drawing was the fairest arrangement of all, because he simply couldn't read the number printed on the ticket stubs… Of course, he had no idea what happened when he ended up drawing a winning ticket for himself…

This was a pretty fun time… it gave me a chance to celebrate all the good work at Feeding Hong Kong had been doing over the last couple of years, and also gave me a taste of the Mexican fare at Brickhouse. I'm really looking forward to attending more of these supper club events!